Love, labels and calendar girls at Cabaret des Reves May 5

On Saturday, May 5, the Lamar University Dance Team will return to the Jefferson Theatre for the eighth annual Cabaret des Reves. While the Lamar dance team devotes its talent to supporting the Cardinals throughout football and basketball season each year, this annual event allows the team to showcase all of its talent.

“There’s a lot of fishnet and a lot of heels,” said Brixey Blankenship, dance team director. “These girls are dancing in stilettos, and the costumes and the different styles of dance are more intimate and mature. You’re not watching a performance; you’re watching a show.”

This year’s production features 32 dance numbers centered on two separate themes – “Love and Labels” and “Calendar Girls.” Within 90 minutes, guests will encounter several surprises as Cabaret des Reves has everything from fashion and fireworks to romance and Rocky Horror.

“Certain subjects or themes inspire the show, but we like to keep things a little random so that you don’t get stuck within a storyline, because then you’re limited,” said Blankenship. With each number in this show, you don’t really know what’s going to happen next. That’s the thing with a cabaret show, it takes you different places.”

The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with a performance by the Night and Day Orchestra before the dancers take the stage at 7 p.m. The first act, “Love and Labels,” explores relationships, love, fashion and friendship, as inspired by the themes of the hit series “Sex and the City.”

After a 20-minute intermission with the Orchestra, the dancers return in January for “Calendar Girls,” as the second act moves through each of the twelve months.

With two months to prepare 31 dancers on the team this year, each girl has at least 10 numbers in Cabaret des Reves, Blankenship said.

“Each girl has to be an actress in every single number in order to give the show what it needs, and that really commands maturity,” she added. “There’s a difference between a dancer and an artist; you can do a million turns and kick behind your head, but a true artist is a performer. By the time of the show, you’ll see artists up there on the stage.”

Tickets to Cabaret des Reves are $10 and may be purchased at the door or in advance by emailing Blankenship at Brixey.Blankenship@lamar.edu.